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Sep 4, 16
Filed under: Announcement, Incarceration, Political Prisoners, Southwest
Submitted to It’s Going Down
Below is a compilation of events in Arizona in conjunction with the national prisoner strike beginning on September 9th, including:
- September 9th – Rally outside the Lewis state prison in Buckeye, AZ
- September 10th – Solidarity March in Tucson
- September 10th – Solidarity & Anti-Slavery Struggles Presentation in Phoenix
If you know of or are planning any other events or actions, let us know at [email protected] and we’ll add them to this post and do our best to spread the word!
Additionally, Tucson ABC will be maintaining a legal line during the demonstrations over the weekend should the police make arrests at any point. The number is (520) 269 – 7344 and should be reachable from Pima County jails and detention facilities. Participants are encouraged to write this number on their bodies during demonstrations regardless of whether they intend to take legal risks or not. We’re also collaborating with Southern Arizona National Lawyers Guild to make sure that we can have the backs of anyone facing legal consequences from strike solidarity actions. Sections of this resource compilation may be useful for tips on staying safe! On to the events…
First, on September 9th, the day the strike will begin, there will be a rally outside ASPC-Lewis in Buckeye, Arizona, hosted by the EJ Mothers Safe Air Safe Water Force and the Campaign to Fight Toxic Prisons.
This rally will emphasize and comes out of recent efforts to highlight the intersections between mass incarceration and the environment. We strongly recommend “Incarceration, Justice and the Planet: How the Fight Against Toxic Prisons Could Shape the Future of Enviromentalism” for more information on the fight against toxic prisons, including information specific to southern Arizona. Also recommended are “What Does It Look Like to be an Environmentalist in Prison?” and this reportback from a recent mobilization in Washington D.C.
Check that event out here, and keep an eye out for updates regarding that rally and transportation options from Tucson.
The next day, Saturday the 10th, a march will take place in Tucson in solidarity with prison rebels and against prisons and the world they uphold. An excerpt from the announcement:
We recognize that the prison does not end at the walls, but extends into our lives through a dense network of state controls. The police, probation and parole, drug testing centers, cameras in the streets, racist school environments, border checkpoints, reeducation classes masquerading as diversion programs, rape and abuse committed by police, prison guards, border patrol agents, and others who gain access to that kind of violent authority — all these things make the prison society run, and they can all become so normal after awhile. That’s the point. But it also means struggle against prison can happen anywhere we are. Both the necessity for defense and the opportunity to attack are everywhere, in every moment of our lives.
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In this moment, revolt against white supremacy and the state is consistently taking new, exciting, creative and unapologetic forms, and not just in activist circles. The emergence of large-scale, coordinated, prisoner-led struggle, as well as parallel anti-prison, anti-policing action on the outside, carries the possibility to expand the fight against white supremacy and the state into even broader terrain. We want to make the strike spread.
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We want to show those rebels behind bars that we’re watching, that we’re inspired, and that we’ve got their backs. We want to make it clear to prison authorities that retaliatory actions against our people inside will cannot take place without material consequences outside. Even now, some organizers inside have been thrown in solitary for their contributions to this national strike. We will respond to isolation and death with solidarity and life.
People will meet at Ronstadt Transit Center, Congress & 6th Ave., at 7PM and march from there. You can find the full call for that march here, and a Facebook event here.
If you’re in the Phoenix area, an informational event put together by the Phoenix Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee will happen on Saturday the 10th from 1PM to 3PM. More info on that here, and that could be a good space to find a ride down to the Tucson march later that day!
We strongly recommend checking out It’s Going Down and Support Prisoner Resistance for regular updates on rebellions against prison inside and out, as well as tons of resources for outside solidarity efforts.
For Freedom,
Tucson Anarchist Black Cross
